1994 loss sparks volleyball team to title
By Trevor Parks
Senior Reporter
AMHERST, Mass. — The Ne
braska volleyball team’s goal to win
the national championship was born
_____ on a cold evening
at tne inu loii
seum, Dec. 10,
1994.
On that night, the
undefeated, un
tested Comhuskers
lost to Penn State
in the Mideast Re
gional champion
run}/, | n v;viuuig tut
Pettit spark for what
would transform into a magical 1995
season.
Kelly Aspegren and Peggy Meyer’s
careers came to an end, but the rest of
the team would return the next fall to
make a run at the school’s first na
tional title.
During the 1994 season, in which
the Huskers finished with a school
best 31-1 record, Nebraska relied on
eight players to get the job done. The
Huskers lost one key player, Jen
McFadden, for the season when she
tore her anterior cruciate ligament
against Illinois on Oct. 25.
In August, Coach Terry Pettit
stressed the importance of remaining
healthy. He said at least two, and maybe
three incoming freshmen could add
depth. And Pettit said a dinicult sched
ule would prepare the Huskers for the
vigorous play of the NCAA Tourna
ment.
Pettit’s words of wisdom proved
truthful throughout the season.
Senior setter and team captain
Christy Johnson went down with a
sprained ankle before the Baylor match
on Sept. 22, but freshman Fiona Nepo
filled in well. The only other player
who was hurt was McFadden, who
was st il 1 feel ing the effects of her 1994
knee injury.
McFadden, a native of Dubuque,
Iowa, said she went through a lot of
rehabilitation because she wanted to
build herself up to be in prime condi
tion when the NCAA Tournament
began.
“I tried not to focus on my injury, I
tried to stay focused on what our goal
was from day one,” McFaddcn said. “I
didn’t want that injury to hold me back
in any way.”
Nepo and fellow true freshman
Jaime Krondak played vital roles, and
with redshirt freshman Stacie Maser,
the team went 10 players deep. An
other freshman, Renee Saunders
picked up some valuable playing time
early, but she missed more than a
month when her left foot was placed in
a cast. Saunders would return for the
NCAA Tournament and played against
Penn State.
Nebraska’s schedule included six
ranked teams, allowing the Huskersto
braee themselves for their drive to the
Final Four, which turned out to be a
winter wonderland in Amherst, Mass.
Everything fell perfectly into place
on Dec. 16, when the Huskcrswonthe
national championship, downing
Texas in four games, a match that
showcased the future of Big 12 vol
leyball.
Nebraska began its relentless pur
suit of the trophy against the same
team that ended its dream in 1994,
Penn State. The Huskers easily got
their revenge, sweeping the Nitlany
Lions. The next day Nebraska suf
fered its only loss of the 1995 season.
Defending national champion
Stanford defeated the Huskers in four
games. The Huskers collapsed in the
fourth, allowing the Cardinal to rally
from a 14-6 deficit to win 17-15.
Senior middle blocker Allison
Weston — who was named national
co-player of the year along with
Stanford’s Cary Wendell — said the
Huskers learned a lesson from that
match. The memory remained the en
tire year.
“We played Stanford right at the
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Trevor Parks/DN
Christy Johnson,
Nebraska’s team captain,
holds the national
championship trophy.
beginning of the season and got beat
Weston said. “That was probably the
best thing that could have happened to
us. It put some perspective on the
season.”
Nebraska then ripped through a
series of tournaments, defeating Pa
cific on the road, sweeping through
the FirsTier Challenge, and winning
the Wyoming Invitational. In the
Arby’s Classic, Nebraska crushed
George Washington and all-time
NCAA kill leader Svetlana Vtyurina.
Nebraska faced little opposition in
the final year of the Big Eight Confer
ence. The Huskers rolled to a 12-0
conference record. Nebraska swept
every match, allowing no more than
13 points in a single game.
On Nov. 4, the Huskers began a
stretch of four matches in eight days,
three of which were against top 15
teams. Nebraska swept Texas on the
road, swept Notre Dame at home, and
won a five-game marathon against No.
3 Florida before more than 4,000 fans
at theNU Coliseum on a Sunday after
noon.
The Gators took games three and
four from Nebraska, snapping the
Huskers’ school-record 68-game win
ning streak. It was the first time Ne
braska had lost a game since the
Stanford match, 2 1/2 months earlier.
In the regular season, the Huskers
played six teams ranked in the top 20.
In 1994, they played only two ranked
teams all season, including the NCAA
Tournament matches.
Nebraska next won the Big Eight
Tournament, defeating Oklahoma and
Iowa State in Omaha to secure a top
seed for the NCAA Tournament.
Nebraska had gained complete re
venge over Iowa Stale for a meaning
less spring loss, after which the Cy
clones mailed out'a newsletter pro
claiming their short-lived dominance
of the Big Eight’s best team.
Once the real season began, Ne
braska drilled Iowa State three times
by a combined score of 135-54.
The Huskers learned on Nov. 26
that they would play host to the Cen
tral Regional as long as they got by
George Mason in the tournament’s
second round.
Nebraska beat George Mason 15
2, 15-5, 16-14, earning the right to
bring three Final Four teams from a
year ago to Lincoln for rcgionals.
UCLA, Ohio State and Penn State
arrived in town. Nebraska was pitted
against Penn State in the regional semi
finals.
The Nittany Lions won one game
from the Huskers, which Coach Russ
Rose later admitted was his team’s
primary goal. Nebraska beat Penn
State 15-7, 15-6, 14-16, 15-2. The
next night, Nebraska defeated UCLA
15-9, 15-7, 16-14, advancing to the
Final Four for the first time since 1990
and the fourth time in school history.
On Dec. 14, the day of the national
semifinals, Amherst was bombarded
by eight inches of snow, but Nebraska
and Michigan Slate heated up the
Mullins Center. The Big Ten cham
pion Spartans were the nation’s
Cinderella team after knocking off
Hawaii in the Mountain Regional
championship.
Nebraska fended off Michigan
State’s attack, rallying from a game
one loss to eliminate the Spartans in a
grueling 10-15,15-8, 15-8,9-15,15
8 victory..
The Huskers had been ranked No.
1 for 13 weeks before Stanford took
over the top spot right before the Final
Four. But the Cardinal underest imated
Texas, losing in the other semifinal
match to the overachieving Longhorns.
Two days later in the champion
ship match, Nebraska won the school ’ s
first-ever volleyball national title,
again coming from behind to topple
Texas 11-15, 15-2, 15-7,16-14.
Weston, Johnson and sophomore
Lisa Rcitsma were named first-team
All-Americans. Pettit attributed the
Huskers’ success to the play and lead
ership of the three seniors, Weston,
Johnson and outside hitter Billie
Winsett.
Rcitsma, for whom the season was
a dream come true, said she would like
to earn a couple of more champion
ships before she left Nebraska.
“We’re going to have a great team
next year, too,” Reitsma said.
• Freshman Fiona Ncpo’s parents,
Salei and Sunita Nepo, traveled from
Honolulu to Amherst, Mass., for the
Final Four. Sunita made flower lcis
for Coach Terry Pettit, assistant
coaches Todd Raaseh and Cathy Noth,
and seniors Billie Winsett, Allison
Weston and Christy Johnson.
The coaches wore the leis during
the national championship match
against Texas.
* * *
• Comhuskcr mascot Lil* Red was
the hit of the Final Four. The two-day
Mullins Center crowd of 14,296 fans
cheered for the inflatable Husker dur
ing timeouts and between games. Dur
ing semifinal play, the Stanford team
was especially impressed with L’il
Red’s antics while watching the Ne
braska-Michigan State match.
* * *
• Texas coach Mick Haley’s game
plan to stop All-American Allison
Weston worked in the championship
match. When the Huskers trounced
the Longhorns on Nov. 4 in three
games, Weston hit .583 with 16 kills.
Also in that match, Kate Crnich re
corded two kills and hit -.125. Billie
Winsett had seven kills.
In the championship match, Weston
had a career-high 22 digs, but hit a
season-low .040. Crnich and Winsett
had 25 kills apiece, easi ly career highs
for both. In fact, Crnich, who hit .500
in the title match, had never posted
I Final
| Four
I Notebook
c—
p
more than 13 kills in a match before
dominating the Longhorns.
* * *
• Nebraska lost the first game
against Michigan Stale in the semifi
nals and dropped game one to Texas
in the championship match. The Husk
t'»., rl I ;-'f rtf;
ersbeat Michigan State 10-15,15-8,
15-8, 9-15, 15-8 on Dec. 14 to reach
the championship match. Before the
Final Four, Nebraska had won the first
game in every match this season and
had never scored fewer than 11 points
in a game. The last time the Huskers.
were beaten in the first game two
consecutive matches was Nov. 5-6,
1993, against Baylor and Texas.
* * *
• Weston’s 48 kills in the two Fi
nal Four matches left her 12 kills shy
of former Colorado star Karric
Downey’s all-time Big Eight record.
Weston, a three-time All-American,
finished her career with 1,778 kills,
tops in Husker history.
* * *
• Cmich, Wcston, Win sett and set
ter Christy Johnson were named to the
all-Final Four team. Joining the four
Huskers on the squad were sopho
more Kristin Folkl of Stanford and
freshman Demctria Sance of Texas.
Notebook compiled by sports editor
Mitch Sherman and senior reporter Trevor
Parks.
Brown Baggers
Salutes
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